Agriculture: Pollution

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government what caused the increase of over 50 per cent in incidents of serious pollution from agriculture shown in the joint National Statistics and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publication The Environment in your Pocket 2009.

Lord Davies of Oldham: In 2008, February and June had unusually high numbers of incidents, with June being outside the range normally expected. These incidents raised the total and were caused by storage and control failure leading to slurry and silage releases. There were also a number of waste- related incidents. Inadequate and poorly maintained slurry and silage storage facilities are the most likely reason for the increase.

Armed Forces: Afghanistan

Lord Astor of Hever: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, Kevan Jones, on 8 December 2009 (Official Report, Commons, col. 202W), what steps are being taken by the Ministry of Defence to improve energy efficiency at forward operations bases in Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The work outlined in the comprehensive response given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence on 8 December 2009 (Official Report, col. 201W) in another place to the honourable Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), is continuing. This includes considering a number of options and proposals that could improve the energy efficiency of forward operating bases in Afghanistan. This work is at an early stage.

Armed Forces: Official Residences

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guests were entertained at the official service residence of the Chief of the Defence Staff during 2009 who were (a) royalty, (b) ministers, (c) other senior officers, (d) MPs, (e) overseas visitors, and (f) other VIPs.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The numbers of guests entertained at the official service residence of the Chief of the Defence Staff during 2009 are as follows:
	
		
			 Category Number 
			 Royalty 0 
			 Ministers 2 
			 Other Senior Officers 14 
			 MPs 3 
			 Overseas Visitors 14 
			 Other VIPs 71

Buying Solutions

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was paid by the Cabinet Office and its agencies to (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Deloitte, (d) Ernst and Young, (e) Grant Thornton, (f) BDO Stoy Hayward, (g) Baker Tilly, (h) Smith and Williamson, (i) Tenon Group, (j) PKF, (k) McKinsey and Company, and (I) Accenture, in each of the past five years for which information is available; how they monitor contracts with those firms; and how the department reports (1) during, and (2) at the end of contracts, to Buying Solutions.

Baroness Crawley: The amount that the Cabinet Office paid to (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Deloitte, (d) Ernst & Young, (e) Grant Thornton, (f) BDO Stoy Hayward, (g) Baker Tilly, (h) Smith and Williamson, (i) Tenon Group, (j) PKF, (k) McKinsey and Company, and (I) Accenture in the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 is detailed in the table below:
	
		
			 Supplier 2005-06 (£) 2006-07 (£) 2007-08 (£) 2008-09 (£) 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 346,649 391,133 1,121,023 594,914 
			 KPMG 166,509 223,061 129,641 198,558 
			 Deloitte 304,264 18,037 - 425,249 
			 Ernst & Young - - 47,000 38,642 
			 Grant Thornton - - - - 
			 BDO Stoy Hayward - - - - 
			 Baker Tilly - - - - 
			 Smith and Williamson - - - - 
			 Tenon Group - - - - 
			 PKF - - - - 
			 McKinsey and Company 111,625 - - 264,375 
			 Accenture 67,717 282,210 172,807 - 
		
	
	The Cabinet Office's financial systems do not provide accurate and comprehensive data on expenditure by supplier prior to 2005-06. All the costs in the above table are inclusive of VAT, except where VAT is reclaimable.
	All Cabinet Office contracts are managed by the relevant management unit within the department which commissioned the services. The contract managers within the appropriate management unit are responsible for ensuring that suppliers meet the terms and conditions of the contract and provide good value for money.
	Buying Solutions' frameworks are self-managed. Therefore when the Cabinet Office uses Buying Solutions' frameworks, there is no obligation to report on a firm's performance to Buying Solutions either during or at the end of the contract.

Community Heroes Reception

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) who attended the community heroes reception at 10 Downing Street, and (b) in what constituencies they reside.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information that is being asked for are personal data. We consider that the disclosure of these personal data would be incompatible with the Department for Communities and Local Government's obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Community Heroes Reception

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the community heroes reception recently hosted by 10 Downing Street cost.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Guidance to Ministers on the use of government property is set out in Section 6 of the Ministerial Code. No costs were attributed to the public purse.

Extremism

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many criticisms, and from what categories of persons and groups, they have received about their Prevent strategy; and what conclusions they draw.

Lord West of Spithead: We have sought a wide range of comment and feedback on our Prevent strategy including from members of the public, academics, community groups and delivery partners.
	We consider that there is broad support for Prevent and that the strategy remains correct. We will continue to build and develop the strategy and its delivery on the ground.

Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what the prescribed criteria are for the selection of groups, causes and organisations to receive funding from the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund closed in 2008. It was aimed at all local, regional and national faith-based and inter-faith organisations in England and Wales able to meet one or more of the priorities of the fund.
	My department is considering options for building the capacity of faith community representative organisations to engage with Government and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State will make an announcement shortly.

Fishing: Vessels

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British-owned (a) onshore fishing vessels, and (b) offshore fishing vessels, were registered in the United Kingdom at 31 December in each year since 1980.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Marine and Fisheries Agency has provided the data requested (produced on a UK basis); these are shown in the table below. I assume the noble Lord is defining "onshore" as those UK fishing vessels less than or equal to 10 metres in overall length (under-10m) and "offshore" as those over 10 metres in length (over-10m).
	Vessel data for 31 December 1980 to 31 December 1989 are available only in terms of those vessels under and over 40 feet in length, rather than 10 metres, and relate to the active rather than the registered UK fishing fleet. The data for 1990 onwards reflect the registered UK fishing fleet divided between those vessels under-10m and those over-10m. The statistics for the active fleet given for 31 December 1989 and earlier years understate the overall size of the fleet; the registered fleet exceeded the active fleet by about 3,000 vessels in 1991 when the earlier statistical series was replaced.
	
		
			  Number of Active UK fishing vessels 
			 Details as at 31 December 40 ft and under Over 40 ft Total 
			 1980 4,512 2,383 6,895 
			 1981 4,970 2,381 7,351 
			 1982 4,485 2,312 6,797 
			 1983 4,767 2,207 6,974 
			 1984 5,433 2,151 7,584 
			 1985 5,868 2,052 7,920 
			 1986 6,305 1,861 8,166 
			 1987 6,251 1,953 8,204 
			 1988 6,128 2,004 8,132 
			 1989 6,326 1,957 8,283 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of Registered UK fishing vessels 
			 Details as at 31 December 10m and under Over 10m Total 
			 1990 7,364 3,825 11,189 
			 1991 7,538 3,873 11,411 
			 1992 7,831 3,730 11,561 
			 1993 8,128 3,564 11,692 
			 1994 7,607 3,220 10,827 
			 1995 6,757 2,963 9,720 
			 1996 6,091 2,576 8,667 
			 1997 6,022 2,436 8,458 
			 1998 6,027 2,244 8,271 
			 1999 5,916 2,123 8,039 
			 2000 5,769 2,049 7,818 
			 2001 5,713 2,008 7,721 
			 2002 5,773 1,805 7,578 
			 2003 5,412 1,684 7,096 
			 2004 5,394 1,628 7,022 
			 2005 5,134 1,582 6,716 
			 2006 5,203 1,549 6,752 
			 2007 5,236 1,527 6,763 
			 2008 5,077 1,496 6,573

Government Departments: Staffing

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether assessments are made of the net cost or saving to public funds of redundancies of staff in government departments before decisions are made on proposed redundancies.

Baroness Crawley: Individual departments have delegated responsibility for staffing matters, subject to the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code. Among other things, the code requires departments and agencies to consider all measures which might avoid or minimise the need for compulsory redundancy. In addition, the accounting officer (normally the Permanent Secretary or chief executive) has personal responsibility for ensuring that the resources entrusted to him or her by Parliament are used efficiently, economically and effectively. In the event of redundancy, the terms that departments may pay are set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

Government Departments: Websites

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government what greetings have been posted on the website of the Communities and Local Government to adherents of each of the major religions of the world during the past 12 months.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: In the past 12 months my department has posted ministerial video messages on the departmental website to mark festivals of the five numerically largest religions represented in the UK-Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism.

Government: Office Equipment

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average purchase price, excluding value added tax, of a 500-sheet ream of white A4 80 gsm photocopier paper paid by the Treasury Solicitor's Department in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much it spent in total on photocopier paper in the last year for which figures are available.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Treasury Solicitor's department has purchased 500-sheet reams of white A4 80gsm photocopier paper at an average price (exclusive of value added tax) of £1.71 per ream; the department spent £53,804.20 (exclusive of value added tax) in the financial year 2008-09 on photocopier paper. All paper was sourced via Banner Office Supplies which is on the OGC approved framework and, in terms of sustainability, meets the Government specifications outlined in the Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins guidance.

Greyhound Board of Great Britain

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government with regard to the draft Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, whether the Greyhound Board of Great Britain has yet received United Kingdom Accreditation Service accreditation; and, if not, when the outcome of its application will be known.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has not yet received United Kingdom Accreditation Service accreditation. However, we understand the GBGB is far advanced with its accreditation process and is on schedule to obtain full accreditation before the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 come into force on 6 April this year.

Greyhound Board of Great Britain

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government with regard to the draft Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, who sits on the Greyhound Board of Great Britain.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Greyhound Board of Great Britain is not a statutory body and we do not keep details of the membership of its board.

Housing: Construction

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, Joan Ruddock, on 12 November 2009 (Official Report, Commons, 668W), whether the Homes and Communities Agency keeps a record of the ages of appliances replaced; and, if so, whether it is summarised and published.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: While the Homes and Communities Agency administers the renewable construction demonstration project (RCDP), it has no involvement in the delivery or monitoring of the CERT (carbon emissions reduction target) carbon saving obligation on energy suppliers, and it is through CERT (rather than RCDP) that energy suppliers subsidise the cost of the most efficient domestic appliances through appliance trade-in schemes.

Immigration

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has the Migration Impacts Fund raised in each year since its inception.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Government raised £35 million for the Migration Impact Fund for 2009-10 through immigration and nationality fees.

Immigration

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding from the Migration Impacts Fund has been allocated to each local authority since its inception.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Since the inception of the Migration Impact Fund in April 2009, it has provided a total of £23,581,305 to local authorities in England in the 2009-10 financial year and will provide a further £22,099,223 in 2010-11. The allocations to each local authority (per year) are set out in the table below:
	
		
			 Migration Impact Fund-Local Authority funding 2009-10 and 2010-11 
			 Authority Total 2009-10 Total 2010-11 
			 Suffolk County Council 428,362 425,804 
			 Peterborough City Council 354,832 337,030 
			 Norfolk County Council 183,600 186,000 
			 Cambridgeshire County Council 403,500 364,525 
			 Breckland Council 220,000 30,000 
			 Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk 85,000 85,000 
			 Hertfordshire County Council 264,000 277,000 
			 Harlow Council 220,000 190,000 
			 Luton Borough Council 272,500 317,000 
			 Derby City Council 500,000 450,000 
			 Leicester City Council 100,000 85,000 
			 Lincolnshire County Council 854,000 875,000 
			 Nottinghamshire County Council 210,000 10,000 
			 Nottingham City Council 346,836 366,874 
			 Haringey Council 297,275 324,350 
			 Enfield Council 258,000 258,000 
			 London Borough of Barnet 234,844 104,344 
			 Camden Council 241,500 260,000 
			 London Borough of Hackney 143,760 143,760 
			 Islington Council 90,000 90,000 
			 Westminster City Council 270,000 365,000 
			 Merton Council 158,000 158,000 
			 The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames 102,441 102,441 
			 London Borough of Lewisham 50,000 50,000 
			 Sutton Council 43,636 23,636 
			 London Borough of Croydon 150,000 150,000 
			 London Borough of Lambeth 123,900 123,900 
			 London Borough of Southwark 294,303 300,085 
			 Wandsworth Borough Council 98,000 95,000 
			 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham 84,000 106,000 
			 London Borough of Newham 179,000 98,000 
			 London Borough of Redbridge 84,000 107,450 
			 The City of London 217,000 217,000 
			 London Borough of Tower Hamlets 60.600 60,600 
			 Waltham Forest Council 138,137 43,000 
			 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 63.000 38,000 
			 Harrow Council 121,500 123,160 
			 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 198,000 198,000 
			 London Borough of Brent 133,000 154,000 
			 London Borough of Ealing 350,000 350,000 
			 London Borough of Hounslow 218,000 215,300 
			 London Borough of Hillingdon 273,496 273,496 
			 London Borough of Greenwich 145,000 145,000 
			 London Borough of Havering 100,000 50,000 
			 North Tyneside Council 111,400 111,400 
			 Sunderland City Council 20,000 n/a 
			 Hartlepool Borough Council 40,000 55,000 
			 Gateshead Council 60,000 120,000 
			 Newcastle City Council 181,166 108,648 
			 Middlesbrough Council 74,095 122,675 
			 Northumberland County Council 380,591 291,240 
			 Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council 104,042 94,821 
			 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council 87,000 87,000 
			 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council 105,000 n/a 
			 Manchester City Council 550,000 550,000 
			 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council 156,550 161,247 
			 Salford City Council 159,135 100,627 
			 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council 55,000 5,000 
			 Liverpool City Council 320,000 320,000 
			 Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council 342,000 309,000 
			 Wirral Borough Council 150,261 139,908 
			 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 225,297 154,818 
			 Blackpool Council 65,000 65,000 
			 Lancashire County Council 258,964 135,410 
			 Lancaster City Council 40,086 58,463 
			 Cumbria County Council 250,000 237,000 
			 East Sussex County Council 344,513 332,023 
			 Brighton and Hove City Council 151,880 75,950 
			 Reading Borough Council 221,750 n/a 
			 Bracknell Forest Borough Council 15,000 15,000 
			 Southampton City Council 480,000 480,000 
			 Slough Borough Council 490,000 790,000 
			 Portsmouth City Council 184,813 248,225 
			 Kent County Council 352,000 257,000 
			 Thanet District Council 70,000 90,000 
			 Rushmoor Borough Council 115,000 75,000 
			 Medway Council 391,103 300,074 
			 Plymouth City Council 468,000 468,000 
			 Cornwall Council 416,777 370,900 
			 Swindon Borough Council 280,000 290,000 
			 Devon County Council 459,700 330,000 
			 Bournemouth Borough Council 290,000 190,000 
			 Somerset County Council 314,094 551,045 
			 Bristol City Council 739,982 763,965 
			 Telford and Wrekin Council 183,500 61,500 
			 Stoke on Trent City Council 85,443 78,732 
			 Warwickshire County Council 288,006 175,000 
			 Wychavon District Council 258,600 344,600 
			 Birmingham City Council 362,550 347,050 
			 Staffordshire County Council 275,000 275,000 
			 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council 250,000 250,000 
			 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council 124,999 125,000 
			 East Staffordshire Borough Council 75,000 75,000 
			 Stafford Borough Council 25,000 50,000 
			 Wolverhampton City Council 54,770 50,045 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire Council 153,644 89,484 
			 North Lincolnshire Council 82,143 82,143 
			 North Yorkshire County Council 118,400 118,652 
			 City of Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council 116,592 183,366 
			 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council 171,400 213,000 
			 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council 133,038 169,457 
			 Calderdale Council 215,000 205,000 
			 Sheffield City Council 400,000 400,000 
			 Leeds City Council 375,000 375,000 
			 Kirklees Council 225,000 225,000 
			 Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council 425,000 325,000 
			 Doncaster Council 150,000 150,000 
			 Kingston Upon Hull City Council 150,000 150,000 
			 Total 23,581,306 22,099,223

Immigration: Deportation

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they are making towards deporting foreign offenders sentenced to deportation as soon as their prison sentences are completed.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK Border Agency makes every effort to ensure that a foreign national prisoner's removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with his or her release from prison on completion of sentence. Where sentence length allows, consideration of an individual's case will be commenced 18 months prior to the earliest point of release.
	All foreign nationals subject to removal will be considered by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) under the early removals scheme (ERS), which allows for early removal up to a maximum of 270 days prior to the halfway point of the sentence, subject to the serving of a requisite period. Since 2007, the UKBA has removed in excess of 15,000 foreign national prisoners. Approximately 25 per cent of these removals occurred under the ERS.

National Insurance

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many electors with the same national insurance number appear on both the electoral register for the South Belfast constituency and that of Fermanagh and South Tyrone; and how many appear more than once in Northern Ireland constituency registers.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) does not hold copies of the electoral register for any constituency in Northern Ireland. The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is responsible for maintaining the electoral register there and the noble Lord may wish to make inquiries relating to the register to the Chief Electoral Officer directly.

Nuclear Disarmament

Lord Harris of Haringey: To ask Her Majesty's Government who will be representing the United Kingdom at the United Nations nuclear security summit in Washington in April; and what outcomes they will be seeking at that summit.

Baroness Crawley: The Prime Minister plans to attend the nuclear security summit in Washington DC in April.
	The Government set out their aspirations for nuclear security in last summer's Road to 2010 White Paper. Consistent with that vision, the UK will be seeking to: increase international awareness of the threat posed by nuclear terrorism; agree a robust set of guiding principles for nuclear security that will set the tone for developing international norms over the coming decades; secure commitment by participating nations to undertake a wide range of actions, domestically and in collaboration with other states, to improve the security of fissile material and sensitive information, and to prevent them from falling into the hands of malicious actors.

Olympic Games 2012: Bicycles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the supply of bicycles for use by athletes and officials at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was not put to competitive tender.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government where the BMW bicycles for use by athletes and officials at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be manufactured.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) competitively tendered for the automobile partner sponsorship category. The successful company, BMW, included in its deal a small number of bicycles for use by both elite athletes and LOCOG staff at Games time. This was in addition to a significant financial contribution towards LOCOG's budget for staging the Games. The production of the bicycles is likely to be within the EU.
	LOCOG is responsible for staging the London 2012 Games, and needs to raise its £2 billion budget through sponsorship, tickets, merchandise and licensing and media rights.

Post Office: Banking

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what response they have received to their consultation on post office banking services; and when the consultation closes.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The Post Office Banking consultation closed on 24 February 2010. We have received over 1,000 responses, a summary of which will be published in due course.

Post Office: Closures

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that no further post offices are closed in villages and towns without commercial banks until arrangements are made for widespread post office banking.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The Government will not support a further programme of post office closures, and will continue to subsidise the non-commercial network beyond 2011. But neither the Government nor Post Office Ltd can prevent the closure of individual post offices where, for example, a sub-postmaster decides to retire or resign and a replacement cannot be found. In such cases Post Office Ltd will consider alternatives where possible, which may include one of the Outreach service options.

Schools: Teachers

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, teachers in primary schools have university degrees.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, head teachers in primary schools have university degrees.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, teachers in primary schools have first or second class honours degrees.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, head teachers in primary schools have first or second class honours degrees.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, teachers in primary schools have honours degrees in (1) English, (2) mathematics, (3) physics, (4) chemistry, and (5) biology.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The information requested is not held centrally.

Schools: Teachers

Lord Quirk: To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, teachers in state-funded secondary schools have first or upper-second class honours degrees in (1) English, (2) mathematics, (3) physics, (4) chemistry, and (5) biology.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many, and (b) what percentage of, teachers in state-funded secondary schools in 1999 had first or upper-second class honours degrees in (1) English, (2) mathematics, (3) physics, (4) chemistry, and (5) biology.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The information requested is not held centrally.

Shipping: Piracy

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any British-registered or British-owned ships are being used in support of piratical operations.

Lord Adonis: It is understood that the UK flagged ship "Asian Glory", pirated on 1 January in the Somali Basin, has been used to support other ships under pirate control from its anchorage in Heredeere. The European Union Naval Force in Somalia (EU NAVFOR) confirmed that the ship has now returned to its anchorage and remains under the control of pirates

Stateless People

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to reduce the number of stateless people in the United Kingdom.

Lord West of Spithead: There are several provisions in British nationality law which provide for the acquisition of citizenship by a stateless person. These enable us to meet our obligations under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
	Since 1 January 1983 a child born in the United Kingdom will only be a British citizen if either parent is a British citizen or settled in the United Kingdom. The British Nationality Act 1981 therefore contains provisions by which children born here can register as British citizens, either once a parent becomes British or settled, or following a period of residence in the United Kingdom.
	There are also provisions by which stateless children born outside the United Kingdom after 1983 can be registered as British citizens if a parent holds a form of British Nationality.
	A person who has remained stateless since the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force is entitled to registration in certain circumstances.
	There are no specific provisions in place to cover those who have come to the UK but do not hold the nationality of another country. Adults who have come to the United Kingdom as stateless refugees are able to apply for naturalisation in the same way as any other applicant, on the basis of a period of residence here. The residence requirements for naturalisation exist to allow a person to demonstrate a close and continuing personal connection with the United Kingdom, irrespective of their current nationality.

Sustainable Communities Act 2007

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will decide on which economic, social and environmental well-being projects will be implemented under round one of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007; and how many they intend to approve.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Government are consulting the Local Government Association (LGA) in its role as selector under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 and are seeking to reach agreement on which of the 199 shortlisted proposals should be implemented. Many of the proposals are complex and raise significant practical issues but the Government are anxious to make progress as quickly as possible on those proposals that offer practical benefits and new ways of meeting local needs.

Taxation: Non-domiciled Taxpayers

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many taxpayers who are registered with HM Revenue and Customs as non-domiciled are (a) resident, and (b) non-resident, in the United Kingdom.

Lord Myners: Reliable information is not available, as individuals are not required to report their UK domicile status or residence status to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) unless either is relevant to their liability to UK tax within that year.
	Non-domiciled UK residents
	Individuals who are resident but not domiciled within the UK (non-domiciles) do not need to inform HMRC of their non-domicile status unless it is relevant to their tax affairs in that tax year.
	In the majority of cases an individual's domicile status will make no difference to the direct tax they must pay in the UK. This is because an individual's domicile status is mainly relevant for income and capital gains tax purposes when an individual has foreign income or foreign gains, for example from overseas investment or employment. Where this is the case, UK residents may need to complete supplementary pages to the main self-assessment tax return. Many such residents pay tax on these income and gains on the arising basis so their domicile status is not relevant to their tax affairs. However UK resident individuals who are either not ordinarily resident or are not domiciled within the UK may use the remittance basis in respect of their foreign income or gains instead.
	Following the changes introduced in Finance Act 2008, many of these individuals will now have to complete a self-assessment tax return to use the remittance basis (with some minor exceptions for lower-income or migrant workers).
	Prior to the Finance Act 2008 it was not always necessary for individuals using the remittance basis to complete a self-assessment tax return. Similarly those individuals who did complete a self-assessment tax return did not always need to say whether they were using the remittance basis because they were non-domiciled in the UK or because they are not ordinarily resident in the UK. In 2006-07, 86,000 individuals filed a self-assessment tax return on the basis that they were non-domiciled in the UK. This is the latest year for which data are available.
	UK residents who are non-domiciled may also make lifetime transfers into trusts with inheritance tax due at 20 per cent. To do so, they must inform HMRC of their domicile status. This information is not centrally collated by HMRC's systems.
	Non-domiciled non-UK residents
	With some minor exceptions non-UK residents do not generally pay UK capital gains tax. They pay UK tax on their UK source income, although this may be relieved under a double taxation treaty. There is generally no need for such individuals to inform HMRC about their domicile status; the remittance basis is only relevant to UK residents.
	Some non-resident individuals will complete the non-residence pages of a self-assessment tax return and declare their non-resident status. There is usually no need for such individuals to declare their domicile status too, although on occasion some do choose to tick the non-domicile box. In 2006-07 30,000 taxpayers chose to declare themselves as non-resident and non-domiciled in the UK.
	These individuals will broadly fall into five groups: those who are not resident in the UK but have investments here on which UK tax must be paid; those who have returned abroad from a UK employment assignment and have to file to pay tax on their final year salary; those with UK-source self-employment income from business trips (particularly if they come from a country with which we do not have a double taxation agreement); those performing in the UK as non-resident artistes or sportspersons; and those who making claims under double taxation treaties.

Visas

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty's Government how long it takes for a citizen of Pakistan to receive a visa for travel to the United Kingdom.

Lord West of Spithead: In January 2010, the majority of Pakistani visa applications (70 per cent) were processed in 15 working days, and 89 per cent were processed within 30 days. We continue to work to maintain and improve on our customer service standards.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 8 February (WA 102), whether they will keep information that distinguishes students applying for visas to attend (a) private colleges accredited by private accreditation services approved by the UK Border Agency, and (b) universities and colleges in the public sector.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK Border Agency keeps details of the proposed educational institution on individual student visa application records. However, we have no plans to modify our visa processing systems to provide a breakdown of student visas by public/private colleges.